TGS College Football Playoff Rankings – 11/7/2017

College football season rolls into November with a handful of teams still jockeying to make it into the College Football Playoff. Some of TGS’s finest have gathered to put together this week’s playoff rankings. Who’s in? Who’s out? We all have our own ideas… Let’s get right into it.

Going off of my decisions last week as a baseline: Georgia, Notre Dame, Alabama, and Clemson held serve this weekend, while Oklahoma (at Oklahoma State) had the win of the weekend among contenders. I have no concerns about putting the Tide at #4. Their schedule is disappointing, but they head to Starkville to take on Mississippi State on Saturday, so we’ll see what we get there.

Meanwhile, Ohio State took a drubbing at Iowa, so they’re out. There’s a group of teams bunched together who could earn the #6 position and be in striking range of the top 4, and I’m giving the nod to TCU. Their road win over Oklahoma State looms large here, and a second win over a ranked team (West Virginia) and only loss on the road in a hostile environment to Top 25 Iowa State keeps them ahead of teams like Miami and Wisconsin, who I’d have at #7 and #8 right now with zero losses but weaker wins. Needless to say, Notre Dame at Miami and TCU at Oklahoma are huge games this Saturday.

It’s all about the status quo this week, as I think that the top five from last week’s initial rankings will remain unchanged. Last week, the selection committee put Georgia ahead of Alabama, rightly so. Georgia’s win over South Carolina, and Alabama’s win over LSU were similar with regards to outcomes, so nothing should change in the top two. Notre Dame, still with the best resume of the one-loss teams, stays at #3. Clemson, by way of a victory over ranked North Carolina State, holds on to the #4 spot again this week.

Oklahoma cleared another hurdle with their win over Okie State this weekend, so they stay put at #5. Miami, on the strength of their victory against Virginia Tech, makes an appearance here at #6. Next week, though, we’ll bid bye-bye to either Notre Dame or Miami, as those two meet on Saturday. Wisconsin, the last hope for the Big 10’s playoff chances, sits just on the outside this week at #7, as they have to prove that they can beat a team of merit. If they beat Iowa, though, expect them to sniff next week’s top six.

The entire top 5 holds serve, but the SOS for Georgia (52) and Alabama (56) still give them a lower margin for error going forward. Notre Dame (14), Clemson (3), and Oklahoma (19) would all have an easy claim over both teams if tied with 1 loss come the end of the season. Especially Alabama, who still has yet to play 4-5 Mercer. Miami improving to 8-0 against the #31 schedule puts them over an 8-1 TCU team to round out the top 6. Oklahoma is just out for now, but a win against TCU would likely propel the Sooners over Clemson as they face a hapless FSU team at home.

This is as good as Clemson’s resume will get until an eventual ACC Championship game matchup with Miami, as juicy as their Week 12 matchup with The Citadel looks on paper. Those Hurricanes play Notre Dame this week in a game with huge implications. The loser of the 2017 version of wholly-inappropriately-named-but-pretty-epic-sounding “Catholics vs Convicts” series may be eliminated from contention for a top 4 spot. We’re to the point that any regular season loss from any team in these rankings will likely cost a playoff berth opportunity, and Week 11 may be the week where Chaos truly reigns in the CFB Playoff Picture.

Georgia has the more impressive resume but I still feel like Alabama is the class of college football, thus why I have them slotted this way. I believe Clemson (with a healthy Kelly Bryant) is the best non-SEC team in the country despite their loss to Syracuse – though the margin between them and OU is quite small (Ohio State getting obliterated certainly didn’t help the Sooners out). I have Notre Dame at 5 over TCU, though once again the margin is slim (their dominant win over USC the primary difference). Wisconsin and Miami have the best case behind these six but their relatively weak schedules haven’t done them any favors.

TGS Composite – Nov. 7

Georgia (23)

Alabama (19)

Notre Dame (15)

Clemson (12)

Oklahoma (11)

TIE: Miami (2) and TCU (2)

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

Spencer is a Cedar Rapids, Iowa native currently located in Jacksonville, Florida. He holds degrees from Iowa State University (B.A., 2014) and Duke University (J.D., 2017) where he learned that you can't choose which is better between Hilton Coliseum and Cameron Indoor Stadium; they're just different. Spencer is a lifelong fan of the Iowa State Cyclones, Minnesota Vikings, Scott's Tots, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Oxford comma. He will discuss college football playoff scenarios or health care legislation with you whenever you want.